Arthur Smith transplanted his Atlanta offense and moved it up north to Pittsburgh. Transforming a Steelers’ offense that was wide receiver dominant for a decade under a prime Ben Roethlisberger has reverted to Roethlisberger’s early days. Run the ball with tight ends galore.
There’s a reason Pittsburgh has so many of them—five, to be exact: Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington, Connor Heyward, MyCole Pruitt, and Rodney Williams. Injury has had a minor influence. Pruitt missing a month allowed Williams to secure a hat and play on special teams, but all five have dressed even after Pruitt’s return.
To put that in perspective, the Steelers have dressed more tight ends (five) than cornerbacks (four) in the last two weeks, a roster construction that feels straight out of 1971, not 2024. But those in the room are loving the focus.
“We feel like that’s always been our strength, that our room can do a lot of different things. We have a lot of different skill sets,” Heyward said via The Trib’s Chris Adamski.
Freiermuth and Washington play leading roles. Fresh off his contract extension, Freiermuth is a top passing target who is smartly being used in more of a stand-up role than in seasons past. While his blocking has been a weakness, he’s showing more effort and fewer terrible reps than a season ago. Washington is coming into his own during his sophomore season, playing the best game of his career in Monday night’s win over the New York Giants.
Pruitt has had a sneaky recurring role as an in-line blocker, second-best on the team behind Washington. He’s also been utilized as a fullback a handful of times this season. Heyward has done the same, especially in Pruitt’s absence, aligned in the backfield 24 percent of the time (25 out of 104 snaps). His receiving production has been down, but his versatility is key, and he’s a core special teamer. Williams has logged just six offensive snaps this year, only one of which was a non-kneeldown, but is a trusted special teamer filling in for Nick Herbig on the punt coverage unit.
TEs Coach Alfredo Roberts embraces what Arthur Smith, a former tight ends coach himself, aims to do.
“He really put a lot of stress on (the Steelers tight ends) as far as learning and in learning a lot of different positions,” Roberts told Adamski. “And the growth (among the Steelers tight ends) has been phenomenal.”
This style runs counter to most NFL offenses, which open things up with speed and play-making at wide receiver. Pittsburgh is going in the other direction. Still, they’re not all ground and pound. The Steelers can align however they want with the flexibility this group gives them, in tight or spread out wide. It forces the opposing defense to defend it all from their base defense, putting linebackers in uncomfortable positions all over the field. So far, it’s working.
